A Tiny Car Company Is Coming To America To Do What Tesla Wouldn’t

The forever-delayed Tesla Roadster remains missing. Caterham’s new EV sports car fills this gap and comes equipped with a NACS port.

• Caterham, a low-volume British automaker, is bringing an electric two-door sports car to the United States.

• A production version of the Project V show car is scheduled to go on sale in the United States next year.

• The electric car will feature Tesla-style NACS charging ports and an unusual battery setup.

The next-generation Tesla Roadster has been in trouble since making headlines in 2017, leaving those who want a small, lightweight electric sports car with few options.

That could soon change, though, as a little-known British low-volume automaker is gearing up to launch its first battery-powered four-wheeler. The carmaker is Caterham, known for its homage to the Lotus Seven engine, and the electric car is called Project V.

The show car is set to debut in 2023, but it’s making its U.S. debut this week at the CES 2026 show in Las Vegas, and the boutique manufacturer has made no secret of its plans to establish itself here.

Justin Gardiner, Caterham Motors’ overseas representative, said: “It’s ridiculous that we’ve ignored this market in the U.S. for 50 years because you’re all already loaded up.” car and driver. “Starting this week, we’re going to take the U.S. very seriously. We want to sell a lot of these products here.”

A production version of Project V is scheduled to go on sale next year as a simple, thrilling sports car. The specs are decent, but not earth-shattering, and that’s intentional. There’s a 268-horsepower (200-kilowatt), 400-volt electric motor in the rear, a two-part 55-kilowatt-hour battery, and minimal electronic driver aids. Because it’s new, it needs ABS, traction control, and airbags, but that’s about it.

Inside, there’s a small touchscreen on the center console for Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a rearview camera display, but the dashboard itself is a flat, basic surface with a simulated dashboard.

Caterham wanted to use as many off-the-shelf parts as possible to keep costs down and make it easier to build. The electric motor with integrated inverter comes from Yamaha Motor, the split battery pack comes from Xing Mobility, the early prototype has the same door openings as the Audi TT, and the seats are the same as those used by Maserati.

The battery has an estimated WLTP range of 249 miles when fully charged, while the maximum charging power is capped at 100 kW. None of these specs are groundbreaking, but Caterham doesn’t really care.

“We’re not really concerned about charging time,” Gardner said car and driver. “We care about discharge time. If someone drains these batteries very, very quickly, a lot of electric cars are going to go into limp mode because they overheat. We know our customers are going to do that. We just know they’re going to do that. So we have to get the battery pack working.”

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The battery itself is split into two separate packs, each holding just over 27 kWh. One is installed at the front of the cabin and the other at the back. As a result, the seating position is extremely low, which is typical of sports cars with internal combustion engines.

Initially, the production version of the Caterham Project V will start at $107,000. But now, with everything going on in the world, that’s no longer possible, so the new estimate is around $135,000.

That’s quite a bit of money for a second car of the weekend, but Caterham thinks the price is right, especially considering Porsche is preparing to launch electric versions of the Cayman and Boxster, which will be the Project V’s main rivals.

“I don’t think $130,000 is outrageous,” Gardner said. “I think it’s not just us, but a lot of people are waiting for Porsche to finally pull the trigger on their EV Boxster and Cayman.” Regardless of the final cost of Porsche’s electric vehicles, Caterham representatives believe Project V will be even more fun to drive.